VIP guests skip the line with new ‘Pizza Portal’ at grand opening of Little Caesars’ Desert Hills location

Little Caesars celebrated its newest location in Desert Hills with a special VIP tour and check presentation for several local students at its grand opening event Monday afternoon, St. George, Utah, Jan. 28, 2018 | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Little Caesars, home of the “extramostbestest” pizza, ushered in the opening of its newest location in Desert Hills Monday afternoon by bringing a group of dignitaries to help it break in trainees and put its new facilities to the test.

Students from Desert Hills High School sing to Little Caesars franchise owner Wes Swaney at a grand opening celebration, St. George, Utah, Jan. 28, 2018 | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

Groups of students from Desert Hills High School and Bloomington Hills Elementary were the first to be invited to the grand opening event for stacks of hot pizzas, prizes, cookies and many high-fives for their toga-clad mascot Caesar as he presented them with checks for their schools.

“You’re here before anybody else because you’re VIPs,” local franchise owner Wes Swaney told students as he welcomed them to his store for a sneak peak behind the counter and what it takes to put together one of America’s favorite treats.

Each one begins with quality ingredients, a handful of cheese from 5,000 pounds of mozzarella and Muenster lining the cooler shelves, dough made fresh daily in the store and finally cooked in a super high-tech looking conveyor oven his 6-year-old grandson affectionately calls “Optimus Prime.”

Since four of his children have gone through school at Desert Hills, Swaney said he was glad to have his new store located right next door and provide students with a new option for getting their lunch. He hopes he can help make their lives simpler and easier with Little Caesars’ patented “Pizza Portal” technology.

“This is the coolest thing,” Swaney said about the new system where students can now prepay and order their food on a mobile device using the app and receive an alert code when it is ready. He knows there isn’t a lot of time during a lunch break and when customers have to come in and pay with cash or a card it can take a while, but with the new portal, they can have a pizza in their hand in five to seven seconds.

“In the morning you can open up your Little Caesars pizza app and order your pizza ahead of time,” Swaney said. “All you have to do is show up, punch in your code, a door will open and out comes your pizza – just like that.”

The app is available for free for Android and Apple phones and can be found here.

With 14 slots available in the new machines, Swaney anticipates they can move 200-300 students in and out of the store in 15 minutes and save them a lot more time for socializing and enjoying their lunch break.

“It’s awesome. If you want pizza, this is it.”

The new store officially opened today and is located next to the Canyon Media offices at 3143 S. 840 East, St. George. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

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Little Caesars celebrated its newest location in Desert Hills with a special VIP tour and check presentation for several local students at its grand opening event Monday afternoon, St. George, Utah, Jan. 28, 2018 | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

Little Caesars celebrated its newest location in Desert Hills with a special VIP tour and check presentation for several local students at its grand opening event Monday afternoon, St. George, Utah, Jan. 28, 2018 | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

Little Caesars franchise owner Wes Swaney demonstrating its "Pizza Portal" app to students at a grand opening celebration for their new location in Desert Hills, St. George, Utah, Jan. 28, 2018 | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

Students from Desert Hills High School sing to Little Caesars franchise owner Wes Swaney at grand opening celebration, St. George, Utah, Jan. 28, 2018 | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

Little Caesars celebrated its newest location in Desert Hills with a special VIP tour and check presentation for several local students at its grand opening event Monday afternoon, St. George, Utah, Jan. 28, 2018 | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

Little Caesars celebrated its newest location in Desert Hills with a special VIP tour and check presentation for several local students at its grand opening event Monday afternoon, St. George, Utah, Jan. 28, 2018 | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

Little Caesars celebrated its newest location in Desert Hills with a special VIP tour and check presentation for several local students at its grand opening event Monday afternoon, St. George, Utah, Jan. 28, 2018 | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

Little Caesars franchise owner Wes Swaney demonstrating its "Pizza Portal" app to students at a grand opening celebration for its new location in Desert Hills, St. George, Utah, Jan. 28, 2018 | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

Little Caesars celebrated its newest location in Desert Hills with a special VIP tour and check presentation for several local students at its grand opening event Monday afternoon, St. George, Utah, Jan. 28, 2018 | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

Little Caesars celebrated its newest location in Desert Hills with a special VIP tour and check presentation for several local students at its grand opening event Monday afternoon, St. George, Utah, Jan. 28, 2018 | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

Little Caesars celebrated its newest location in Desert Hills with a special VIP tour and check presentation for several local students at its grand opening event Monday afternoon, St. George, Utah, Jan. 28, 2018 | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

Little Caesars celebrated its newest location in Desert Hills with a special VIP tour and check presentation for several local students at its grand opening event Monday afternoon, St. George, Utah, Jan. 28, 2018 | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

Little Caesars celebrated its newest location in Desert Hills with a special VIP tour and check presentation for several local students at its grand opening event Monday afternoon, St. George, Utah, Jan. 28, 2018 | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

Little Caesars stores in St. George and around the nation are giving free lunch combos, which includes a four-slice deep dish pizza and a 20-ounce soda, to every family between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Monday, April 2, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Little Caesars, St. George News

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